John Wesley Ewell is accused in a serial rampage that took the lives of four South Bay residents in fall. And, given his record and convictions, he could have been in jail during the crimes.

But Ewell has had it easy when it comes to justice.

The Los Angeles Times reports Wednesday that Ewell could have received third-strike prosecutions on four occasions but that the D.A.'s office declined to go there. What's more ...

... Ewell was arrested three times for shoplifting at Home Depot but was kept out of jail by a judge who was sympathetic to his claim that he needed to take care of some medical issues before being locked up, according to the Times.

It was during that delay, authorities allege, that Ewell robbed three homes and killed the victims.

According to the Daily Breeze, he's "charged in the Sept. 24 killing of Hanna Marcos in his Hawthorne home, the Oct. 13 death of Denise Roberts in her Los Angeles home and the Oct. 22 slayings of Leamon and Robyn Turnage in their Hawthorne residence."

Told the news of Ewell's would-be third strikes and his recent freedom despite being destined for more jail time, Leamon "Kelly" Turnage, daughter of the Turnage couple, told the Times, "He should have been in prison a long time ago. It is a shock to me that no one is willing to take responsibility for letting this killer go."

Dennis Romero has worked on staff at several magazines and newspapers, including the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Los Angeles Times, where he participated in Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the L.A. riots. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone online, the Guardian, and, as a
young stringer, the New York Times.